Wednesday, July 25, 2018

That Emoluments Clause Decision

I am pleased to see that Judge Peter J. Messitte's ruling today in District of Columbia v. Donald J. Trump (the DC/MD Emoluments Clause case) draws upon the research of my Georgetown Law colleague John Mikhail in the opinion's substantial discussion of the historical record. Also, after considering it at length, Judge Messitte also rejected Seth Barrett Tillman’s argument in an amicus brief that the presidency was not covered by the Foreign Emoluments Clause.